The baby horned lizard, often referred to as the “horny toad,” is a type of lizard native to the deserts of North America.
Its distinctive appearance includes a spiky body and a pair of prominent horns on its head. Baby horned lizards are small, measuring approximately 24 mm from snout to vent and weighing only about 1 gram. The females can reach their adult size of 5 inches around two years.
The horned lizard has adapted well to their environment, with their spiky exteriors providing protection from predators.
The diet of baby horned lizards primarily consists of insects like ants, beetles, and grasshoppers. They also eat spiders and other small insects. They have a sit-and-wait hunting strategy and use their long, sticky tongues to catch prey.
Baby horned lizards can go for long periods without water and can regulate their body temperature to survive in hot, dry climates. They have unique defense mechanisms, including puffing up their bodies to appear larger and squirting blood from their eyes to intimidate predators.
